“Why did Mutual Bank fire whistleblower Kenneth J Connor after he
challenged the appraisal on the land purchased by Rita Rezko, just
prior to the land sale to Obama?”…Citizen Wells

From a memorandum opinion and order by Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim July 9, 2014 we learn.
“Background

Previous opinions resolving Defendants’ motions to dismiss, see FDIC v.
Mahajan, No. 11 CV 7590, 2012 WL 3061852, at *1-3 (N.D. Ill. July 26, 2012), and the FDIC’s motion to strike, see FDIC v. Mahajan, 923 F. Supp. 2d 1133, 1135-36 (N.D. Ill. 2013), describe the details of this case’s background facts and procedural history. What follows are the facts and allegations most pertinent to the questions presented in the current motion.

According to the FDIC, in November 2009, FDIC representatives interviewed
Hakken-Phillips concerning her work as the secretary of the Bank’s Board of
Directors and as the administrative assistant to Bank President Amrish Mahajan.
(R. 289, Mot. ¶ 1.) In support of its current motion the FDIC submitted an affidavit from Tina Solis, one of the FDIC’s attorneys, stating that during the interview Hakken-Phillips described preparing handwritten Board minutes which she then submitted to senior officers. (R. 289-1, Mot., Ex. A ¶¶ 4-5.) According to Attorney Solis’s affidavit, Hakken-Phillips said Defendants Mahajan and James Regas altered the minutes to remove references to “certain adverse matters,” and that she signed the final minutes “feeling that she had no choice but to do so.” (Id. ¶ 4.) The affidavit goes on to say that Hakken-Phillips discussed the Bank’s lending and credit administration practices, compiling reports on the Bank’s real estate portfolio and loan deficiencies, document shredding at the Bank, and Regas’s role in Bank operations. (Id. ¶¶ 5-6.) The FDIC alleges that several weeks after the interview, Hakken-Phillips voluntarily provided the FDIC with her handwritten draft Board minutes and handwritten “diaries” describing tasks, meetings, and communications with the Bank’s senior officers. (R. 289, Mot. ¶ 3.)

On October 25, 2011, the FDIC sued Defendants, each of whom was a
director, officer, board member, or attorney for the Bank. (See R. 1, Compl.) When the FDIC deposed Hakken-Phillips on October 31, 2013, she chose to invoke the Fifth Amendment in response to every question except those asking for her name, address, and educational background. (See R. 289-7, Mot., Ex. G, Hakken-Phillips Dep.) The FDIC filed the instant motion on June 2, 2014, to compel her testimony regarding the authenticity of the draft minutes, the explication of certain passages in those minutes, and the process of preparing the Bank’s final minutes. (R. 289, Mot. ¶ 16.) Hakken-Phillips filed a response on June 19, 2014, in which she requested leave to provide the court with “additional information” regarding the basis of her Fifth Amendment privilege assertion for an in camera review. (R. 302, Opp. ¶ 2.) With the court’s leave, Hakken-Phillips submitted her “additional information” on June 24, 2014, ex parte. (R. 304.) On June 26, 2014, the FDIC filed a reply in support of the current motion. (R. 306, Reply.)”

Amrish Mahajan, the former president of Mutual Bank of Harvey, the bank that loaned Rita Rezko the money to buy the lot subsequently sold to the Obamas, has been barred from banking.

From Chicago Business July 1, 2013.

“Politically connected ex-Mutual Bank president barred from banking”

“Amrish Mahajan, former president of failed Mutual Bank of Harvey and a major fundraiser for imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been barred from future participation in the banking industry under a newly released regulatory order.”

“Why did Mutual Bank fire whistleblower Kenneth J Connor after he
challenged the appraisal on the land purchased by Rita Rezko, just
prior to the land sale to Obama?”…Citizen Wells

We learn much from literature as well as history.

Beware the Ides of March.

Ghosts of Christmas past.

Has Barack Obama learned?

We have another Ghost of Christmas past returning to join the other spirits of Obama’s troubled past.

The FDIC lawsuit against Amrish Mahajan, former president of Mutual Bank, et al is scheduled for a settlement conference in the courtroom of Judge Virginia M. Kendall on March 27, 2014. Mutual Bank loaned Rita Rezko the money for the lot that was purchased by the Obama’s. It is also the bank that fired whistleblower Kenneth J. Conner after he questioned the appraisal of that lot.

Amrish Mahajan, the former president of Mutual Bank of Harvey, the bank that loaned Rita Rezko the money to buy the lot subsequently sold to the Obamas, has been barred from banking.

From Chicago Business July 1, 2013.

“Politically connected ex-Mutual Bank president barred from banking”

“Amrish Mahajan, former president of failed Mutual Bank of Harvey and a major fundraiser for imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been barred from future participation in the banking industry under a newly released regulatory order.”

“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

From the LA Times September 27, 2013.

“Federal Housing Administration needs $1.7-billion bailout”

“The Federal Housing Administration, whose role in the real estate market expanded dramatically in recent years, on Friday said it would need approximately $1.7 billion to stabilize its long-term finances.

It marks the first time the 79-year-old agency will require a taxpayer bailout, which it has the authorization to receive without congressional approval.

The FHA, which insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages, is funded by premiums charged to homeowners. But the actions it took to stabilize the housing market after the subprime housing bubble burst left it backing billions of dollars in bad loans.”

“In a letter to lawmakers Friday, FHA Commissioner Carol Galante said the agency would need about $1.7 billion on Monday, the last day of the fiscal year, to ensure it has sufficient reserves to cover anticipated losses on the loans it backs.

A bailout has been expected since April, when the Obama administration’s proposed 2014 budget projected the FHA would need $943 million by Sept. 30.

But the size of the bailout nearly doubled because the number of mortgages the agency has backed declined in the last few months as mortgage rates have risen, Galante said.”

“Many Republicans have been critical of the FHA’s expanded role in the housing market, warning that it put taxpayers on the hook for losses. House Republicans are pushing legislation that would scale back the FHA’s role.”

“The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides a variety of insurance options for qualified loans on existing homes, home construction and repair, and is also responsible for regulation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the manufactured housing industry, has been without a permanent leader since April 2011. Carol J. Galante, who currently serves as Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing-FHA Commissioner, was nominated by President Obama on October 20, 2011, to lead the federal agency on a permanent basis. Although the Senate Banking Committee voted to send her nomination to the Senate floor, some conservative Republicans, charging that the Obama administration has not faced the probability of an FHA bailout, may attempt to prevent her confirmation.”

“we do know that Islamic extremists with ties to Al-Qa’ida participated in the attack.”…CIA Benghazi talking points memo
“400 US surface-to-air missiles were ‘STOLEN’ from Libya during the Benghazi attack and are ‘now in the hands of Al Qaeda’, claims whistleblower”…The Mail Online August 13, 2013

“Because I tend to rely on evidence and not on hearsay, I believe we should focus our attention on Amrish Mahajan and the Mutual Bank of Harvey, not on Giannoulias and the Broadway Bank, if we are to assign names to the financial institution about which Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times has heard “rumblings.” Although Mahajan is not known to readers of No Quarter and to the national media, I imagine they will desire more information on the unscrupulous banker once they read the information I unpack below the fold. And yes, Obama is involved, deeply involved.”…Truthteller, NoQuarterUSA October 12, 2008

Never let a good crisis go to waste.

If you don’t have one. Create one.

From Zero Hedge August 29, 2013.

“As Syria Distracts, Here’s What’s Happening While No One Is Looking”

“Gun control

Today, the Obama administration announced fresh measures to restrict the availability of firearms in the Land of the Free.

This time around, they want to ban the re-importation of firearms that have been exported from the US to allied nations. They also want to raise the bar on federal background checks.

But rather than go through Congress, the Obama administration is simply going to create a new ‘rule’.

‘Rules’ are a type of regulation created directly by agencies within the Executive Branch. They’re not laws, but they carry the same weight and effect as laws, complete with criminal and civil penalties.

Oftentimes, hundreds of new rules are proposed every single day in the Land of the Free. It’s the easiest way for the President to circumvent the Constitution and simply decree whatever he wants.

Debt ceiling

The US government is once again danger close to defaulting.

Bear in mind, at the start of the ‘credit crisis’ six years ago, US federal debt was just $8.9 trillion. Today, US federal debt stands at $16.738 trillion– 88% higher.

Curiously, the statutory debt limit is $16.699 trillion… so the US government already breached its limit 39 billion dollars ago.

For the last few months, the Treasury Department has been resorting to ‘extraordinary measures’ in order to avoid default (i.e. things that you and I would go to jail for).

But Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is about out of bullets. So the US could be in danger of defaulting at any moment, especially if an unexpected fiscal ‘surprise’ should arise… like, uh, war.

That’s the funny thing about war– they tend to be expensive. And starting another war might very well be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“We intend to close loopholes that allowed big financial firms to trade risky financial products like credit defaults swaps and other derivatives without
oversight; to identify system-wide risks that could cause a meltdown; to strengthen capital and liquidity requirements to make the system more stable; and to ensure that the failure of any large firm does not take the entire economy down with it. Never again will the American taxpayer be held hostage by a bank
that is “too big to fail.”…Barack Obama

“Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama says he’ll crack down on fraudulent sub-prime lenders. If he really means it he can start by firing his campaign finance chair, Penny Pritzker. Before taking over Obama’s campaign finances, she headed up the borderline shady and failed Superior Bank. It collapsed in 2002. The bank’s sordid story and its abominable role in fueling the sub-prime crisis are well known and documented. It engaged in deceptive and faulty lending, questionable accounting practices, and charged hidden fees. It did it with the sleepy-eyed see-no-evil oversight of federal. It made thousands of dubious loans to mostly poor, strapped homeowners. A disproportionate number of them were minority.

Obama’s home state, Illinois, ranked near the top of thee states in the percentage of sub-prime mortgages. Nearly 15 percent of home loans were sub-prime according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But that only tells part of the tale. According to the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago non-profit that studies housing issues, the sub-prime fall-out was far higher in the predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods of South and Southwest Chicago.

The predictable happened when many of those lost their homes. When the bank collapsed Pritzker and bank officials skipped away with their profits and reputations intact. Aside from the financial and personal misery sub prime lenders caused the thousands of distressed homeowners, sub-prime lending has been a major cause of the housing crisis in many areas, and has dealt a sledgehammer blow to the economy. Obama has said nothing about Pritzker, Superior Bank, or their dubious practices.”…Huffington Post, February 29, 2008

“One could make the argument that Pritzker was the most important person in Barack Obama’s presidential bid – except, perhaps, for Obama himself. A longtime Obama friend, Pritzker was national finance chairwoman for the Obama campaign throughout his 2008 presidential effort. She helped him raise a record $750 million from a dizzying array of donors.
Obama’s huge fundraising advantage not only gave him clout during the primaries against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), but also provided the means to bypass federal funding for the general election and dramatically outspend Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)…Washington Post

From the Chicago Tribune May 2, 2013.

“Penny Pritzker nominated for Commerce secretary”

“Making official what many Democrats have expected for weeks, President Barack Obama has nominated Chicago business executive Penny Pritzker, a longtime political supporter and heavyweight fundraiser, as his new Commerce secretary this morning.

Pritzker’s nomination could prove controversial. She is on the board of Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp., which was founded by her wealthy family and has had rocky relations with labor unions, and she could face questions about the failure of a bank partly owned by her family.

With a personal fortune estimated at $1.85 billion, Pritzker is listed by Forbes magazine among the 300 wealthiest Americans.

If the nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Pritzker would become the first member of her influential family to hold a top-level political office, creating an opportunity to make a name for herself apart from the leadership roles she has played within the family’s many businesses, which in recent years were divested.

At its peak the Pritzker empire included a bank, a credit reporting agency, an industrial conglomerate, residential developments from coast to coast and the Hyatt Hotel chain, founded by her uncle Jay.

Penny Pritzker runs PSP Capital Partners, an investment firm, and its affiliated real estate investment firm, Pritzker Realty Group. She played an influential role in Obama’s rise from Illinois state senator to the nation’s 44th president, serving as his national finance chair in his first campaign for the White House and co-chair of his reelection campaign.

Obama, in announcing Pritzker’s appointment from the White House Rose Garden, heralded her as “one of the country’s most distinguished business leaders” with more than 25 years experience in real estate, finance and the hospitality industry.”

“The White House conducted an in-depth review of Pritzker’s background in preparation for the confirmation hearings. A senior administration official who asked not to be identified in order to talk about internal White House discussions said the administration concluded Pritzker was “definitely confirmable.”

The president’s vetting attorneys went carefully through her lengthy list of investments and assets, noting what the official called her “rigorous and diligent and thorough” participation in the process.”

“She could also face scrutiny over the collapse of Superior Bank, which was co-owned by her family. The bank, based in Hinsdale, Ill., was involved in subprime mortgage lending, and its failure in 2001 stirred charges of fraud and mismanagement.”

“A major donor to Obama, Pritzker has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats and their state parties across the U.S. During Obama’s 2008 run for the White House, she was a campaign “bundler” who encouraged friends and associates to give and raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for him that cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics

Pritzker also was an Obama bundler during the 2012 race, raising at least a half-million dollars for his re-election. And as co-chair of Obama’s first inauguration, Pritzker just gave $250,000 to help pay for his second one in January, federal reports show.”

More on Obama’s 2008 National Finance Chairwoman and economic advisor Penny Pritzker.

From Consortium News February 28, 2008.

“Though Superior Bank collapsed years before the current sub-prime turmoil that is rocking the world’s financial markets – and pushing those millions of homeowners toward foreclosure – some banking experts say the Pritzkers and Superior hold a special place in the history of the sub-prime fiasco.

“The [sub-prime] financial engineering that created the Wall Street meltdown was developed by the Pritzkers and Ernst and Young, working with Merrill Lynch to sell bonds securitized by sub-prime mortgages,” Timothy J. Anderson, a whistleblower on financial and bank fraud, told me in an interview.

“The sub-prime mortgages,” Anderson said, “were provided to Merrill Lynch, by a nation-wide Pritzker origination system, using Superior as the cash cow, with many millions in FDIC insured deposits. Superior’s owners were to sub-prime lending, what Michael Milken was to junk bonds.”

In other words, if you traced today’s sub-prime crisis back to its origins, you would come upon the role of the Pritzkers and Superior Bank of Chicago.”

“”They were always more interested in building an empire than in getting their name in the newspaper,” says Patrick Foley, formerly president of Hyatt Hotels Corporation. “They just didn’t enjoy that kind of notoriety.”

Last year, however, the Pritzkers found themselves most uncomfortably in the public eye after the stunning collapse of Superior Bank, the Oakbrook Terrace–based savings and loan they jointly owned with the New York real estate developer Alvin Dworman. The institution’s failure is “a tale of gross mismanagement,” says George Kaufman, a finance professor at Loyola University Chicago. “[Superior] was engaged in relatively unethical practices, fancy-footwork accounting, playing it very close to the edge.” Kaufman says many share in the blame for the mess-the bank’s managers, directors, and auditors, as well as banking regulators-but he also wonders how the Pritzkers, as co-owners, could have allowed it to happen. “One of the great mysteries to me is what the Pritzkers were up to, why they took these chances,” he says. “It makes no sense given their wealth and visibility.””

“The family’s most agonizing setback, however, was the stunning collapse last year of the once high-flying Superior Bank. The thrift had come into the Pritzker fold in 1988, when Jay Pritzker and Alvin Dworman-old social friends and partners in several past business ventures-put up $42.5 million for the insolvent Lyons Savings Bank, as it was then called, in return for an estimated $645 million in federal tax credits and loan guarantees. (By one estimate, it would have cost the government $200 million less simply to shut Lyons down.) Although Dworman had agreed to run the renamed Superior Bank out of his New York office, Jay deputized his niece Penny-a Harvard educated go-getter who had just earned her law degree and M.B.A. from Stanford-to help keep tabs on the investment. She served as chairman of Superior from 1989 to 1994, long enough for the bank to regain its financial health and embark on an aggressive new strategy, making high-interest home and auto loans to people with bad credit. For a time, that strategy appeared to work like a charm, yielding big profits-and large dividends for the Pritzkers and Dworman.

In reality, Superior was spiraling into ruin. Although the details are complicated, the bank’s fall stemmed from a risky business strategy and from poor oversight by the bank’s directors, according to investigations by banking regulators. Superior became heavily concentrated in high-risk assets connected with its subprime lending business, and then used “unrealistic and overly optimistic assumptions” to record the value of those assets, according to a report by the inspector general of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In language redolent of the corporate accounting scandals that have rocked Wall Street recently, the report adds that by using “liberal interpretations of accounting principles” Superior was able to “report impressive net income figures that masked the net operating losses the institution was actually experiencing.” Those phony “profits,” by the way, allowed Coast-to-Coast Financial Corporation, the holding company owned jointly by the Pritzkers and Dworman, to collect more than $200 million in dividends from 1993 to 1999-money the bank desperately could have used as it tottered toward insolvency.

After the Pritzkers and Dworman failed in July of last year to follow through on a plan to inject $270 million into the bank, Superior was seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision and eventually placed in receivership under the FDIC. Last December, to avoid being punished for Superior’s failure, the Pritzkers agreed to pay the FDIC $460 million while admitting no wrongdoing. Because $360 million of that payment was to be spread out interest free over 15 years, the settlement was worth an estimated $335 million in today’s dollars. But that won’t cover all the damage. Even with the settlement, Superior’s failure is expected to cost the federal thrift insurance fund an estimated $440 million.

Meanwhile, the Pritzkers still have not put their Superior troubles entirely behind them. Tom and Penny Pritzker are defendants (along with Dworman, several officers and directors, and the bank’s auditor, Ernst & Young) in a federal civil racketeering suit brought on behalf of Superior’s uninsured depositors (those with deposits in excess of the federally insured $100,000). Although the 1,400 uninsured depositors so far have recovered about 55 percent of the more than $65 million they lost in the collapse, they are still out almost $30 million, according to Clint Krislov, the lawyer for the plaintiffs. By contrast, the Pritzkers may not have fared so badly. Counting the tax credits and deductions they originally received and the dividends they collected over the years, “they appear not to have lost money on the deal,” Krislov says. (A source close to the family says the Pritzkers did lose money in Superior, and asserts that the lawsuit is without merit.)

* * *
The Superior scandal stained virtually everyone connected with it-the bank’s managers and directors, the accountants who signed off on its financial statements, the banking regulators who failed to act aggressively as early as the mid-nineties, when Superior’s problems were fast becoming apparent, and, of course, the owners. As the fallout spread, the Pritzkers worked feverishly to control the damage. They claimed that they had been “passive investors” while Dworman’s people ran the show (Dworman said the Pritzkers shared in the blame). They also made the case that Superior’s auditor had continued to give favorable opinions on the bank’s accounting over the years. On that score, the Pritzkers appeared to gain some vindication in early November of this year when the FDIC sued Ernst & Young for fraud in its audit of Superior, and sought at least $2.19 billion in punitive and compensatory damages. (Ernst & Young denied responsibility for Superior’s collapse and said it would vigorously fight the charges.)

To some, however, the Pritzkers were hardly the innocents they made themselves out to be. The family, after all, controlled half the board seats of the bank’s holding company, which benefited from all that dividend income, and the Pritzker Organization’s chief financial officer, Glen Miller, chaired the bank’s audit committee. Although Penny had stepped down as the bank’s chairman in 1994, she remained a director of its holding company.

“No one should have had any illusions about what was going on,” says Bert Ely, a banking consultant in Alexandria, Virginia, who tracked the Superior story. “[Superior] was reporting gains that were unrealistically high, which allowed [it] to pay big dividends [to the Pritzkers and Dworman]. It was a lot like Enron and WorldCom-reporting profitability that wasn’t there. Their financial people should have been able to figure that out. If they truly didn’t understand the bank’s fundamentally unworkable business model, then the Pritzkers have bigger problems than Superior.”

The Pritzkers said in a statement that the settlement was simply “the right thing to do,” reflecting the family’s “historical commitment to stand behind their investments.” That may have been true. But it also entitles them to 25 percent of any sum the government collects in its $2.19-billion suit against Ernst & Young. Beyond that, the settlement made an ugly story go away. “I am convinced that the Pritzkers wanted to get their name off the front page,” says Ely. “They had stepped into a pile of horse manure, and they were highly embarrassed.””

“Why did Mutual Bank fire whistleblower Kenneth J Connor after he
challenged the appraisal on the land purchased by Rita Rezko, just
prior to the land sale to Obama?”…Citizen Wells

“Why did the Rezkos enter into an agreement to purchase the lot next to the Obama house and pay the asking price of $ 625,000 at a time when they were broke and heavily in debt?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

Obama’s Rezko problem is not going away.

I just spoke to Kenneth J. Conner a few minutes ago. Conner was the whistleblower in the Mutual Bank of Harvey loan to the Rezko’s for the lot next door to the Obama Mansion. Kenneth J. Conner has written a book, “Rezko for Radicals” and it is available as an E book Kindle version on Amazon.com.

“Barack Obama’s arch-criminal friend Tony Rezko paid for $125,000 of the Obama Mansion by overpaying for the vacant land next door. Rezko is serving a 10 1/2 year sentence for other kickbacks and extortion. Barack Obama has yet to be charged. From the real estate analyst at Rezko’s bank, FBI informant Kenneth J. Conner puts the scam and the spin in perspective so as to scathingly, though intellectually honestly, expose Barack Obama as just another crooked politician from Chicago. Tony Rezko isn’t a made man in the mafia. Tony Rezko is his own mafia.”

“Why did Mutual Bank fire whistleblower Kenneth J Connor after he
challenged the appraisal on the land purchased by Rita Rezko, just
prior to the land sale to Obama?”…Citizen Wells

“Why did the Rezkos enter into an agreement to purchase the lot next to the Obama house and pay the asking price of $ 625,000 at a time when they were broke and heavily in debt?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

Rezko for Radicals

A new book by Kenneth J. Conner

whistleblower in the Rezko Obama lot transactions

Kenneth J. Conner, whistleblower in the Rezko Obama lot transactions, is the author of a new book, “Rezko for Radicals.” The scheduled release date for the book is October 1, 2012. I am not at liberty to divulge the contents yet, but as soon as I am permitted, I will do so. At some point more information will be available here as well.

With all of the books being written about Chicago pay to play politics and corruption, why would this book be of interest? Kenneth J. Conner was there at Mutual Bank of Harvey, doing his job, asking questions about another questionable appraisal froma Adams Valuation Corp. except this time the borrower was Rita Rezko, wife of Tony Rezko. And the other party involved in these transactions was Barack Obama, an IL senator at the time. Here is why Conner’s story has credence.

In early 2005, the Rezkos were broke and heavily in debt.

In June 2005, Rita Rezko obtained a loan from Mutual Bank of Harvey in the amount of $ 500,000 for the lot next to the mansion purchased by the Obama’s at the same time.

The Rezkos paid the full asking price $ 625,000.

The sellers mandated that both properties close at the same time.

Rita Rezko’s salary was approx. $ 37,000.

Kenneth J. Conner was a real estate specialist at Mutual Bank in 2005.

In late 2005 to early 2006, Mr. Conner was asked to review the appraisal by Adams.

Mr. Conner reported to his bosses that the property was overvalued by $ 125,000 and that based on comparables it was worth $ 500,000.

On November 21, 2005 Barack Obama had an appraisal of the lot done by Howard B. Richter & Associates. That appraisal was for $ 490,860.

The Rezkos and Obamas signed a purchase agreement on January 4, 2006 for one sixth of the lot. The Obamas paid $104,500 instead of the appraised value of $40,500.

Mr. Conner’s valuation was subsequently removed from the loan file.

On October 19, 2006 Mutual Bank received a grand jury subpoena requiring it to produce information concerning Rita Rezko’s purchase, including the bank’s files on the property.

On December 28, 2006 former Rezko business attorney Michael J. Sreenan purchased the Rezko lot.

“In 2007, Conner observed that his ARR of the 5050 S. Greenwood property was not in the Rezko 5050 Greenwood loan file and in it’s
place was the Murphy Checklist purportedly dated “06/15/2005.”…On June 18, 2007, Conner sent an email to James Murphy which provides, in part, “I spent time trying to track down work of mine that should be in a particular high profile loan file, though it is not–having been replaced by a checklist.”

” In October, 2007, Conner had various communications with Mutual Bank’s Human Resources Department representative, Lana Schlabach. In an email communication of October 15, 2007, Conner directly referenced “Resentment over my mentioned discovery of the removal/replacement of an appraisal review that I conducted. That appraisal review contained substantial observations and suggestions. The transaction and parties involved were high profile in the media.I am under the impression that the FBI has since looked at the file.”

Late 2007 the FBI investigated the lot transactions. Mr. Conner stated. “Agents and I talked about payoff, bribe, kickback for a long time, though it took them only a short number of minutes of talking with me while looking at the appraisal to acknowledge what they already seemed to know: The Rezko lot was grossly overvalued,”

On October 16, 2008 Kenneth J. Conner filed his first lawsuit for retaliatory dismissal.

On October 25, 2011 the FDIC initiated a lawsuit against Mutual Bank officers, directors and the bank lawyer. “5. Collectively, the Director Defendants and Officer Defendants (“Director and Officer Defendants”) (a) recklessly implemented a strategy of rapid asset growth through approving a high concentration of risky CRE, ADC and out-of-area loans to a small concentration of high-volume borrowers; (b) failed to implement appropriate underwriting and credit administration practices; (c) ignored the Bank’s loan policies; (d) ignored federal lending regulations; and (e) disregarded warnings from the Bank’s regulators regarding the Bank’s lending activities.”

Mr. Conner has filed a Qui Tam lawsuit against the officers, directors and employees of Mutual Bank as well as Adams Valuations Corp. and others. The lawsuit is no longer under seal.